Traversing Emmaus

Homily for Easter Octave (Divine Mercy Sunday), 2022, delivered in St Patrick's Church, Calliope, Qld.

"... it was the Lord’s day and the Spirit possessed me, and I heard a voice behind me, shouting like a trumpet, '... do not be afraid; it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead and now I am to live for ever and ever..." (cf. Rev 1:9-19).

"... a phrase used by Saint Augustine in recounting the story of Jesus’ meeting with the woman taken in adultery (cf. Jn 8:1-11). It would be difficult to imagine a more beautiful or apt way of expressing the mystery of God’s love when it touches the sinner: 'the two of them alone remained: mercy with misery'. What great mercy and divine justice shine forth in this narrative! Its teaching serves not only to throw light on the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, but also to point out the path that we are called to follow in the future... The Mother of Mercy gathers us all under the protection of her mantle. Let us trust in her maternal assistance and follow her perennial counsel to look to Jesus, the radiant face of God’s mercy." (Pope Francis, Misericordia et
misera, 2016).

"In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you... Receive the Holy Spirit'..." (cf Jn 20:19-31).

Artwork: retrieved from Pinterest.

Homily for Easter Wednesday (within the Octave), delivered at Our Lad  Star of the Sea Church, Gladstone, Qld., 2022.

"When [the man who had been  cripple from birth] saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple he begged from them. Both Peter and John looked straight at him and said, ‘Look at us.’ He turned to them expectantly, hoping to get something from them, but Peter said, ‘I have neither silver nor gold, but I will give you what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!’" (cf. Acts 3:1-10).

"Two of the disciples of Jesus were on their way to a village called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking together about all that had happened. Now as they talked this over, Jesus himself appeared among them... [and] he said to them, ‘You foolish men! So slow to believe the full message of the prophets! Was it not ordained that the Christ should suffer and so enter into his glory?’ Then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, he explained to them the passages throughout the scriptures that were about himself... When they drew near to the village to which they were going, he made as if to go on; but they pressed him to stay with them. ‘It is nearly evening’ they said ‘and the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them. Now while he was with them at table, he took the bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him; but he had vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?’..." (cf. Lk 24:13-35).

Artwork: Apparition du Christ aux pélerins d’Emmaüs, Laurent de La Hyre, (1656).

Reflection for Easter Prayer, delivered at St Francis of Assisi School, Tannum Sands, Qld., 2022.

"On the day of Pentecost..." (Acts 2:36). "When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint him... But when they looked they saw that the stone — which was very big — had already been rolled back. On entering the tomb they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right-hand side, and they were struck with amazement. But he said to them, 'There is no need to be so amazed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he has risen, he is not here'..." (cf. Mk 16:1-7).

Artwork: Eastern Orthodox icon of the two Marys and Salome at the Tomb of Jesus (Kizhi, 18th century).

Homily for Easter Monday (within the Octave), delivered at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Gladstone, Qld., 2022.

"On the day of Pentecost... listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God. [He was] put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, [and] you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him: I saw the Lord before me always,
for with him at my right hand nothing can shake me. So my heart was glad and my tongue cried out with joy; my body, too, will rest in the hope that you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor allow your holy one to experience corruption. You have made known the way of life to me, you will fill me with gladness through your presence... Now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, he has received from the Father the Holy Spirit, who was promised, and what you see and hear is the outpouring of that Spirit." (cf. Acts 2:14,22-33).

"The Christian Creed - the profession of our faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and in God's creative, saving, and sanctifying action - culminates in the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead on the last day and in life everlasting. We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day. Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity: If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. The term 'flesh' refers to [us] in [our] state of weakness and mortality. The 'resurrection of the flesh' means not only that the immortal soul will live on after death, but that even our 'mortal body' will come to life again. Belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. "The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live: How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. . . . But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." (CCC 988-991).

Artwork: Isenheim Altarpiece: The Resurrection, by Matthias Grünewald in (1512–1516).

Homily for Easter Sunday, 2022, delivered in St Patrick's Church, Calliope, Qld.

"Peter addressed Cornelius and his household: ‘You must have heard about the recent happenings in Judaea; about Jesus of Nazareth and how he began in Galilee, after John had been preaching baptism. God had anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and because God was with him, Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. Now I, and those with me, can witness to everything he did... and also to the fact that they killed him by hanging him on a tree, yet three days afterwards God raised him to life and allowed him to be seen. [W]e are those witnesses – we have eaten and drunk with him after his resurrection from the dead – and he has ordered us to proclaim this to his people: ... all who believe in Jesus will have their sins forgiven through his name.’" (cf. Acts 10:34-43).

"... you have been brought back to true life with Christ; you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. But when Christ is revealed – and he is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with him." (cf. Col 3:1-4).

"Till this moment [of Mary Magdalen finding the empty tomb, and then John and Peter,] they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that [the Lord] must rise from the dead." (cf. Jn 20:1-9).

Artwork: Resurrection, by Luca Giordano, after 1665.

Homily for Easter Vigil, 2022, delivered in St Peter Chanel, Tannum Sands, Qld.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, and God’s spirit hovered over the water. God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light. God saw that light was good... Evening came and morning came: the first day." (cf. Gn 1:1-2:2).

"In the morning watch, the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and of cloud, and threw the army into confusion... Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians marched right into it, and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the very middle of the sea. The returning waters overwhelmed the chariots and the horsemen of Pharaoh’s whole army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left." (cf. Ex 14:15-15:1).

"Thus says the Lord: Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty; though you have no money, come! Buy corn without money, and eat, and, at no cost, wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not bread,
your wages on what fails to satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me; listen, and your soul will live." (cf. Is 55:1-11).

"Listen, Israel, to commands that bring life; hear, and learn what knowledge means... you have forsaken the fountain of wisdom. Had you walked in the way of God, you would have lived in peace for ever. Learn where knowledge is, where strength, where understanding, and so learn where length of days is, where life, where the light of the eyes and where peace. But who has found out where she lives, who has entered her treasure house...? [T]he One who knows all knows her, he has grasped her with his own intellect, he has set the earth firm for ever
and filled it... He sends the light – and it goes... It is he who is our God... Turn back, Jacob, seize her, in her radiance make your way to light: do not yield your glory to another; what pleases God has been revealed to us." (cf. Bar 3:9-15,32-4:4).

Artwork: a depiction of Christ's descent to the dead, (accessed from www.trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk — http://bit.ly/3KJwWrL )

Homily for Good Friday, 2022, delivered in St Peter Chanel, Tannum Sands, Qld.

"See, my servant will prosper,

he shall be lifted up, exalted, rise to great heights. As the crowds were appalled on seeing him – so disfigured did he look

that he seemed no longer human – so will the crowds be astonished at him, and kings stand speechless before him; for they shall see something never told and witness something never heard before.” (cf. Is 52:13-53:12).

"Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed." (Heb 4:14-16).

"After Jesus had taken the vinegar he said, "It is accomplished"; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit... And all this happened to fulfil the words of scripture: 'Not one bone of his will be broken'; and again, in another place scripture says: 'They will look on the one whom they have pierced'..." (cf. Jn 18:1-19:42).

Artwork: Raising of the Cross,  by Sebastiano Mazzoni, (17th C.).

Homily for Holy Thursday, 2022, delivered in St Peter Chanel, Tannum Sands, Qld.

"You shall eat it like this: with a girdle round your waist, sandals on your feet, a staff in your hand — hastily... when I see the blood I will pass over you and you shall escape... This day is to be a day of remembrance for you, and you must celebrate it as a feast in the Lord’s honour — for all generations; for ever.”’ (cf. Ex 12:1-14).

"I saw one like the Son of Man..." (cf. Dan 7:13; Acts 7:56; Rev 1:13).

"If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me.’’ (Jn 13:8).

Artwork: Jesus Washing Peter's Feet, Ford Madox Brown (1821–1893).

Homily for Psalm Sunday, delivered to the young people at Ignite Youth Summer Camp 2022, QCCC Mapleton.

The theme for 2022 is Big House (cf. Jn 14:2).

The first Gospel (Luke 19:28-40) before processing to the Altar is what is included in this recording, rather than the dramatised Gospel (Lk 22:14-23:56).

"He is inflaming the people with his teaching...!" (Lk 23:5).

"Indeed I promise you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (23:43).

Artwork: Entry into Jerusalem, by Giotto, 14th century.

Homily for Friday in the Fifth Week in Lent, 2022, delivered in Our Lady Star of the Sea, Gladstone, Qld.

"Jeremiah said: I hear so many disparaging me, ‘“Terror from every side!” Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ (cf. Jer 20:10).

"The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good works for you to see, works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’" (cf. Jn 10:31).

Artwork: The Capture of Christ by Fra Angelico, c. 1440.